In July 1993, a month after the legendary basketball player Michael Jordan won the NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls, his father, James Jordan, was murdered in North Carolina. Michael, whose life story is currently at the center of ESPN The Last Dancecelebrate your team in the championship with his father in June of 1993, before his father made a trip to North Carolina, never to return.
James had made the trip to Wilmington, north carolina, to attend the funeral of a former coworker, and while on his way back to Charlotte to catch a flight to Chicago, was shot and killed in the Chicago Tribune called failed robbery. James, who was 56 when he died, was about an hour outside of Wilmington when they stopped to take a nap before continuing his drive. He was killed, and his body was it is located in a swamp 11 days later but it was not immediately identified, according to the Washington Post. His car was found 60 miles away from your body. James was not reported as missing by his family, for 21 days, and on day 22, dental records are used to identify him.
Two men, Daniel Green and Larry Demery, were convicted of crimes relating to James death and sentenced to life in prison. However, because James was killed by a gunshot wound, it was difficult for the courts of the guilt of one man over another. Because of this, each of the parties blames the other. Larry is being considered for parole soon, according to local news WECT. He argues that it does not pull the trigger, and should not be serving life for that crime.
Also it is not yet clear if there was a reason for Santiago’s murder. When it happened, some suggested Michael known gambling problem may have been the reasonthat maybe Daniel and Larry was to pay a debt. Michael slammed those rumors, however, according to USA today. “Throughout this painful ordeal, I never doubted my conviction that Dad’s death was a random act of violence,” Jordan said in a statement in 1993. “I was deeply moved by the first reports of speculation that there was a sinister connection to the death of my Dad. I was outraged when this speculation continued even after the arrest of the alleged murderers.”
Michael ended up retiring from the NBA just a few months after his dad’s death, and many speculated that James’s murder had a lot to do with it. Michael said at the press conference at the time, “the most positive thing I can take from my father is not here with me today, is that he saw my last basketball game. And that means a lot.” Obviously, he ended up returning to the NBA in 1995 to play for several more years, including the 1997-1998 Bulls of the season in the middle of his docuseries The Last Dance.
